Montreal Climate Summit: Mayor Plante says work on environment major part of her legacy
Posted May 6, 2025 9:43 am.
Last Updated May 6, 2025 4:39 pm.
Six months before the end of her mandate, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante took advantage of the opening of the Montreal Climate Summit Tuesday, to announce several measures to help the city combat climate change.
“This is my last one but I know it will continue,” Plante said. “You can see how people are mobilized, how people are excited.”
This was the City’s fourth climate summit – an initiative put forward by the Plante administration, rallying environmental stakeholders in the metropolis.
“At the end of my eight years as mayor, I’m proud that for me everything we’ve done for the environment, protecting the environment, protecting the biodiversity as well, how we decrease our emissions and preparing our territory like with the Sponge Parks and other initiatives,” she said. “This is my biggest and the thing that I’m the most proud of as a legacy.”
Plante says the Summit allows people to come together to “move forward faster and stronger” in terms of reaching goals like reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Montreal.
Hundreds of people from business, philanthropy, unions, politics, community, environmental, and civil society were at the Grand Quai du Port on for the event.
“It’s very important for us, to protect the planet,” said Montreal Climate Summit volunteer, Nathanael Fumbele Wasido. “So I’m very happy to contribute to this Summit.”
Plante announced the implementation of the principle of zero net artificialization by 2030.
Land artificialization—asphalting, for example—”amplifies the risks of flooding, biodiversity loss, global warming, pollution, and the reduction of the capacity of agricultural land to feed us,” the city administration stated in a press release.
“In cities, greening is the best way to cool the ambient air. Replacing green surfaces with paved surfaces reinforces heat islands in urban areas,” the City also stated.
“The ecological transition is the legacy I am most proud of,” Plante said during the announcement.
“In the city, greening is the best way to cool the air. Replacing green spaces with paved surfaces reinforces heat islands in urban areas,” the City also argued.
An analysis of green and mineral surfaces conducted by the City a few years ago showed that “the Montreal metropolitan area comprised 38 per cent green and permeable surfaces and 62 per cent mineral and impermeable surfaces.”
The City aims to limit the percentage of mineral and impermeable surfaces to 62 per cent.
Soil sealing, the Plante administration emphasizes, “significantly alters microorganisms and soil fauna, contributing to the destruction of species that live in these areas.”
At the event, Quebec’s Environment Minister Benoit Charette put forward project Oasis to help municipalities adapt to climate change.
“Today we announced a new initiative that was adopted for as much as $22 million, but we have a total of $85 million that are available. So Montreal and other cities have until December of this year to present their projects.”
Au Sommet Climat Montréal, j’annonce un renforcement de notre Plan climat pour faire de Montréal la métropole la plus verte d'Amérique du Nord. Voici les nouvelles mesures, ambitieuses et réalistes :
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) May 6, 2025
???? Ajout de 11 000 bornes de recharge d’ici 2030 dans la région métropolitaine… pic.twitter.com/FRz3YJJpNH
11,000 charging stations announced
The City also announced Tuesday that it will add 11,000 public electric vehicle charging points across the Greater Montreal area by 2030.
The charging stations will be installed along the street, in publicly accessible, and on privately owned land.
“That could be in parking lot of a gas station, restaurants, supermarkets, schools, everywhere on the island,” said Marie-Andrée Mauger, City of Montreal Executive Committee member. “We want our community to feel safe about having access to charging stations so they can turn their vehicle to electrifying.”
Creation of a working group with the insurance industry
The Mayor of Montreal also announced “the creation of a strategic working group with the property and casualty insurance industry to accelerate the region’s adaptation to the growing impacts of extreme weather events.”
“Faced with the growing impacts of climate change and the repeated disasters suffered by the population, a growing number of residents are turning to the City and their insurers for assistance. We want to strengthen collaboration between the City and insurance sector partners to mark a turning point in our climate adaptation planning and better meet the needs of the population,” said Plante.
“We are committed to using our expertise to make a difference, mitigate risks, and build resilient communities. We are proud to contribute to a more resilient future for Montreal,” said Alain Fortin, Senior Vice-President, Intact Insurance, Quebec.
Intact Insurance, Desjardins Insurance, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and other partners are part of the group.
#WATCH: Mayor Valérie Plante took advantage of the opening of the Montreal Climate Summit on Tuesday to announce the implementation of the principle of zero net artificialization by 2030.
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) May 6, 2025
READ: https://t.co/G3e9AxFtc5 pic.twitter.com/bwlrzTDvVh
Looking towards the next administration
Graham Carr, the co-chair of the Montreal Climate Summit, as well as President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University, says the work of the partners of the event is for the long-haul, even beyond the Plante administration.
“It’s a commitment that’s really built in to the culture of Montreal, as a city, right now to be a leader on climate change,” he said. “There’s also simply a responsibility to move in that direction and I think that that’s going to supersede and outlive whoever occupies the mayor’s seat going forward.”
Municipal elections will be held on Nov. 2 and Plante says her successor shouldn’t roll back on efforts in greening, decarbonization, and more.
“It would be so sad to go back,” she said. “If it would be the case, they would be accountable for doing so because, Montrealers have said strongly: ‘We want options.'”
Plante says there are files that she wish would have moved forward faster: “for example, more public transit options, but we’re on the right track of moving on so many levels. So I invite Montrealers to look at the platforms, ask questions, the real questions.”
-With files from The Canadian Press
